1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to providing security and access to open service networks, and more particularly to providing secure access between multiple service providers and customers across open service networks.
2. Background and Related Art
An open access network is a business model where one party (the network operator) owns, controls, and/or maintains the underlying network infrastructure and other parties (the service providers) use the shared infrastructure to provide services to the end users. This is different than most networks today where one entity both owns the network infrastructure and provides services over it. In an open access network, when a user wants a service, they contact a service provider to sign up for service. The service provider then contacts the network operator to set up the connection between the service provider and the end user. Typically, service providers are paid by the end users, and the network operator is paid by the subscribers and/or the service providers. A high level overview of an open access network can be seen in FIG. 1.
A difficulty with providing open access networks is the provision of access to service providers and end users in a secure fashion that prevents unpaid and unauthorized use of network resources and/or service provider services. For example, an end user who wishes to use infrastructure and bandwidth that is not paid for or is not authorized for the end user at his or her current location (an “adversary”) may use a variety of approaches to attempt to achieve the desired access. The provider of the open access network and/or the service providers must protect against the efforts of such adversaries.